Octopus Blast

Octopus Blast is a match-two puzzler. Yep, you read that right.

On the one hand, Octopus Blast has a control scheme that makes everything more difficult than it should be.

On the other, Octopus Blast boasts a pleasant cartoon style that goes a little way to soothing your control-based rage.

Where is it?

In terms of story, there are some coloured octo-babies trapped in ice. It's your job to free them by connecting creatures with the same hue. Which should be perfectly simple.

'Thanks' to the game's bizarre control scheme, though, you're never entirely sure where your cursor is. This makes for one helluva frustrating experience. Basically, you're never quite certain the octopus you're clicking on is the one you want to select.

There's no explanation of the controls, either: you just need to work them out as you play. And in a game with a strict time limit, that's almost unforgivable. Essentially, mind, you use the joystick to move an invisible cursor, clicking when you think you're in the right place.

Octo-panic

It's a shame because there's a genuinely decent game lurking beneath the execrable controls.

Octopus Blast is a nicely balanced and well-designed game, but that silly input method turns what should be a simple and entertaining experience into an unnecessarily convoluted one.